1960 MclNTYRE A.J.S. SPECIAL. This machine is
unique, for I—lit is the only "special" to have finished in the first three in a
Junior T.T. since the war. This it did in i960 in the hands of its rider-builder
Bob Mclntyre when it came third at an average speed of 95-1 m.p.h., only 1-6
m.p.h. slower than winner John Hartle (M.V. four) and a bare 0-3 m.p.h. slower
than John Surtees on the other M.V. The next machine to finish, Derek Minter's
Norton, was 2] minutes astern, at 93-6 m.p.h.

The special was one of a pair built by Bob, under
the sponsorship of Glaswegian Joe Potts, during the winter of 1959. They were
identical except for engine—this machine had an A.J.S. 7R and the other a 500
c.c. Norton—so that the rider felt equally at home in Senior and Junior races at
short-circuit meetings after a necessarily quick change of mount.

Although similar to the standard Norton
"Featherbed", the frame of Mclntyre's model differed in that the bottom loop
tubes rose vertically behind the gearbox and were butt-welded to the top rails
which extended rearwards to the tops of the swinging-fork units. All tubing was
Reynolds 531 material. A large rectangular oil tank was carried on the near side
so that the carburetter had a large free-air space around it. Front forks were
Norton as was the rear wheel, but the front wheel was Italian, with two brakes
and very big ventilation ducts.
Obviously Bob is as fine a craftsman as he is rider, and the light-alloy engine
and gearbox plates were "engine-turned" in true engineering tradition. In use
the model had a Peel full dolphin fairing and an air duct led cool air from the
front to the baffle plate just ahead of the carburetter.

The machine made its major-event debut at
B.M.C.R.C.'s "Hutchinson 100" at Silverstone on April 9, i960, and won its
class—and its big brother won its class in the same meeting, a pattern of events
that was to become familiar during that season.

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